Building Briefs – February 8th

St Mirren fans are being encouraged to suggest names for five new streets being built on the site of the club’s former stadium.

Renfrewshire Council has teamed up with Sanctuary Scotland and St Mirren FC to launch the competition #SaintsStreets.

The old Love Street site is being transformed into 132 affordable houses, 103 of which will be available for social rent.

Two streets have been named North Bank and Cairter’s Corner after well-known sections of the ground. Buddies fans have less than two weeks to submit suggestions for the five remaining roads.

Names can be submitted online via the #SaintsStreets link before 4.45pm on February 17.

A judging panel including Sanctuary Scotland director Pat Cahill, St Mirren chairman Gordon Scott and celebrity supporter Chick Young will convene to select a final shortlist. The shortlisted names will go to an online public vote, with the five most popular declared the winners.

The judging panel will ensure the shortlisted names are suitable, comply with Royal Mail requirements, and don’t clash with any street names already taken. Any players whose surname is already shared with an existing street in the town won’t be able to have a street named after them.

Sanctuary’s Love Street project is being delivered in partnership with Renfrewshire Council and the Scottish Government.

The remaining 29 houses are available for affordable sale through the New Supply Shared Equity scheme.

Council approves plans for Haddington anaerobic digestion plant

East Lothian Council has approved plans for an anaerobic digestion plant to be developed on an area of land within Bangley Quarry, which is located in the countryside to the northeast of Haddington.

The proposed plant is designed to process a variety of feedstocks to produce renewable gas which would be injected into the local gas network. The majority of feedstock would be sourced from the local farming markets.

Members also agreed to amend the conditions so that HGVs, including tractors of 15 tonnes or more, can only access the site from the A199.

Preparatory work on Picardy Place to start this weekend

The next stage of works to prepare Picardy Place in Edinburgh for its redesigned layout are set to get under way this weekend.

The statue of Sherlock Holmes and Eduardo Paolozzi’s three-piece sculpture The Manuscript of Monte Cassino were carefully removed by contractors working on behalf of Edinburgh St James in December 2017.

From this weekend, work will begin to remove trees from outside St Mary’s RC Cathedral in order to facilitate future works at Picardy Place.

The trees need to be removed before bird-nesting season begins later this month.

Under plans to improve public space in Picardy Place and the city centre, two trees will be replanted for every one that is removed.

Revised proposals for the Picardy Place junction were approved by councillors earlier this month, following an extended period of consultation.

The removal of the trees is the start of a period of enabling works while the detailed design is finalised in consultation with key stakeholders. Works to revamp the junction are scheduled to get under way later this spring.

Renovation to upgrade paths at Dunblane’s Laigh Hills Park

Stirling Council is leading a renovation to upgrade 2km of paths across Dunblane’s Laigh Hills Park.

Muddy conditions in wet weather is currently preventing the path being used as a route for walkers to connect to schools, amenities, services, longer distance paths and cycleways.

The funding will greatly improve the path surface, create new signposting and seating, and open up viewpoints that have been lost due to excessive plant growth, as well as address issues relating to the steeper section of the path.

The work following the success of the footpath improvements along the Scouring Burn, which were completed at the end of 2015.

Stirling Council then assisted Dunblane Community Council in securing funding of £75,000 from the Scottish Government under the Scottish Rural Development Programme (SRDP) Agri-Environment Climate Scheme to improve the path network.

The project has also been supported through funding from Stirling Council’s Park Masterplan Implementation budget.

Work is due to be completed by mid-February.

Refurb work complete on Museum of Childhood in Edinburgh

Refurbishment work has been completed on the Museum of Childhood in Edinburgh.

The Museum is to officially open on March 3.

Councillor Donald Wilson, culture and communities convener, said: “With over 225,000 visitors every year, the Museum is one of Edinburgh’s flagship venues. Its impressive collection of more than 60,000 objects reflecting childhoods from the 18th century to the present day has been recognised as of National Importance by the Scottish Government, which has generously funded much of the refit through Museums Galleries Scotland grants.

“The refurbishment will allow us to tell the story of childhood in new ways, and engage young people in Edinburgh in the history of these objects and how they relate to Scotland’s shared social history. We look forward welcoming visitors to the re-opening in March.”

Improvement works begin to upgrade recycling centre in Kilmarnock

Improvement works have started to upgrade a recycling centre in Kilmarnock.

Work at the Household Waste Recycling Centre on Western Road began on Monday, 05 February.

The work is expected to last around seven months.